Jennyanydots's Week of Hustle and Bustle
by MoonlightSongs
Summary: Jennyanydots may seem grown-up, but even the Gumbie Cat can get a few self-esteem issues now and then. What better for this than a makeover? And maybe... a little bit of romance? We shall see! My entry for Quiffin's 'A chapter a week contest'
1. Chapter 1

Day One

Excitement

A/N: This is my first fanfiction; an entry for Quiffin's 'A chapter a week' contest. Enjoy and please review so that I can improve!

*"*"*

Jennyanydots was in a good mood. A very good mood. The kind of mood which can make one drop music, crocheting and tatting (temporarily, of course) and jump for joy- and Jenny most certainly was jumping.

"Demeter!" the Gumbie Cat called to the first person she saw. "Guess what!"

"What?" replied the paranoid-yet-mildy interested queen.

"Skimbleshanks is coming home TOMORROW!" Jenny squealed in delight.

At this, a loud 'thud' echoed from somewhere to the left of them, echoing around the sunlit (and nearly deserted) junkyard. Demeter shuddered.

"That's nice... I've got to go." she mumbled, scampering away.

"Alright..." Jenny then saw Jellylorum approaching. "Hey, Jelly, I just realised- Skimble is coming home tomorrow! It's only one day until the Night Mail returns!"

Jellylorum grunted. "Those ridiculous kittens have got the nerve to spill yet another can of paint all over themselves... Oh, did you say something, dear?"

Jenny simply sighed. "No." Another 'thud' pierced the relatively quiet air. Jellylorum stalked off in the direction of some very Etcetera-like screeching.

"Oh, dear- I would have thought that someone would be excited about my best friend returning home." Jenny said to herself. Then she saw that she was at the opening to a den- Bombalurina's den. She knew that the red queen could be quite moody in the morning (sometimes she would giggle and tease playfully, other times she would merely growl and offer sarcastic remarks), but Jenny decided that just for the chance of having someone to share her joy with, it was a risk worth taking.

Reluctantly knocking on the frame of the opening, Jenny whispered "Bomba?"

"What?" came a hoarse reply from inside. Clearly, out of the two demeanours previously mentioned, Bomba was currently the latter. Knowing that now she had knocked, she had to reply, she said a little louder, "It's me, Jenny. Can I talk to you, please?"

"Ugh, fine." Bomba grumbled, clearly annoyed. "What time is it?"

"Just a little past noon."

"So early?" the red queen whined. "Alright, make it quick."

Jenny hesitantly stepped in. Bomba was lying on her make-shift bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Yes?" she snapped after a moment's silence had passed.

"Oh, um... I just wanted to tell you that Skimble's finally coming home tomorrow."

At this, Bomba seemed to jolt awake. Then, she sank back. "Poor him."

It took a moment for Jenny to process this. "What? Why?" The Gumbie Cat was quite confused.

Bombalurina took a moment to simply look at Jenny, almost as if she was examining her. "Well, you certainly seem enthusiastic to see him." she begun, motioning towards Jenny's feet with her paw.

Jenny looked down, and realised that the whole time she had been talking to Bomba, she had been tapping her feet excitedly.

"Oh, yes..." she murmered, hanging her head in embarrassment.

"And, you see," Bomba continued indifferently, "I just don't think that any tom would want to come home to a queen like you in a flurry of thrill."

Jenny had been sort of following it up to there, but now was thoroughly puzzled. "What do you mean, 'a queen like me'?"

Bomba sighed.

"It's pretty obvious that you don't care about how you appear to toms. You're quite a bit overweight, you spend your time teaching mice how to crochet, and your fashion sense is... questionable." Bomba replied simply, turning a glance towards Jenny's bright yellow and orange coat. "And I know that when that kind of queen gets over-excited, it gets a bit tiresome for toms."

Jenny gaped at Bomba, her mouth hanging open like a codfish. After she mentally regaled herself for this, she began to realise... Bomba was right! Staring down at herself, if suddenly occurred to her that she was that kind of queen! How could she make Skimble put up with her as she was? How could she do that to him? She needed to change!

"I need to change!" she repeated aloud, slightly determined.

A small smile curled into Bomba's scarlet lips.

"My dear Miss Jennyanydots, you have come to just the right place."

*"*"*

A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it- there'll be more tomorrow or the day after. I stuck to a pretty average interpretation of Jenny in this chapter, but I made Bomba a bit more mean for the purposes of my mostly-sorted out plot. Did it work? Please review and tell me!

Oh, and to Quiffin, thank you so much for putting on this competition! It's really fun and I can't wait to see what other people write!

Until next time,

MoonlightSongs


	2. Chapter 2

Day Two

Getting into Trouble

A/N: Because I technically posted Day 1 yesterday, I figure that it's okay to post Day 2 today. Enjoy and please review!

*"*"*

At first, Jennyanydots had figured that accepting the chance to be 'made over' by Bombalurina was a good idea. Now, she wasn't so sure.

To start with, Bomba had made Jenny put away her luminous orange and yellow coat. That had been particularly hard, but Jenny had anticipated that request when she had accepted the offer. Then, Bomba had set her in front of a reflective pane of old glass, and had gotten to work. She trimmed Jenny's head fur, put some strange tint on her claws, and did about a million more things which Jenny could not even begin to understand the purposes of. Finally, Bomba stepped away from Jenny.

"There." she said simply. "Any thoughts on becoming a new queen?"

This is when Jenny had had her doubts- only at the start, though. As she looked at her reflection, she did not see the Gumbie Cat that she had once been- motherly bright and perky- but a new cat entirely; fashionable, pretty, and... young? How is it that she looked almost young? Well, she wasn't that old- creating military tactics for beetles can give you a few wrinkles here and there. But as she looked at herself, she began to feel free- like she could do anything she wanted to do, be anyone that she wanted to be. Oh, she couldn't wait to see Skimbleshanks!

"*"*"

"Jenny!" Jellylorum called. Jenny turned away and pretended she hadn't heard- she had absolutely no desire to talk to Gus's daughter-in-law right now. However Jelly walked over to her, a little put off at being ignored, and said as calmly as she could, "Jenny, Old Deuteronomy would like to see you."

"Well, than Old Deuteronomy can't have what he would like this time." she huffed, attempting to stalk away. But Jellylorum placed a forceful paw on the tabby-coated queen's shoulder.

"Jenny, I will not accept that answer. You must go to the tire now."

Jenny tried to walk off once more.

"Going to see Bombalurina is NOT an excuse for refusing to see the Jellicle leader!" Jelly retorted, raising her voice this time.

"I'm not going to see Bomba. I was..." she began, but then realised that she was making a straight line towards Bomba's den, and was nearly at the opening. Bomba had insisted that Jenny come to see her the next morning, now that she was on a new diet that Bomba recommended: only lean rat and skimmed milk. It had been hard, especially when Jenny's humans offered her cream last night and she had to pretend that she didn't like it, but Bomba had told her that if she wanted to be less fat, she had to do it.

"Okay." Jenny groaned, making her way towards the tire in the centre of the Junkyard.

"Oh- and Jenny?" Jelly called after her, but Jenny did not turn back. She was annoyed, and did not want to turn and see whatever expression was on the other queen's face or hear what else she had to say. She quickened her pace, scampering over to the tire and jumping up to where Old Deuteronomy was resting. He looked so serene, so deep in some enlightening form of thought, that Jenny almost wanted to leave, just to not wake him. But she knew that if she did so, she would have Jellylorum to answer to. She gently nudged to old cat awake.

"Yes?" The Jellicle leader snapped, his eyes fluttering open. When he saw her, his tone softened. "Oh, hello Jenny. Thank you for coming."

"You're welcome." Jenny replied, in a slightly more imperious tone than she had meant.

Raising his eyebrows a bit at her response, the Jellicle leader continued. "You were not with the beetles, mice and cockroaches last night." he began.

"Yes. I was busy." she stated.

"Well, the thing is, since you weren't there, they banded together, got a bit rambunctious-"

"Am I in trouble?" Jenny interrupted.

The elderly cat sighed. "No, _you_ are not the one in trouble."

There was a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" Jenny pursued, a bit worried now.

More silence.

"They... they kidnapped Etcetera."

This shocked Jenny beyond her expectations for the conversation. Shock was only the first in a flurry of emotions that overcame her then. The next was guilt. Etcetera was Jellylorum's youngest! No wonder the poor queen was in such a foul mood earlier. How could Jenny have provoked her in such a manner? What had she done?

The next emotion was anger. Those Pollicles... (well, rodents and insects actually, but still bad!) They had to be stopped! And this set Jennyanydots on her final emotion towards the matter- determination.

"I'd better teach them a lesson, then!" she snapped to no one in particular. "Kidnapping a kitten- especially one with such concentration issues..." she muttered to herself as she leapt off of the tire.

Old Deuteronomy smiled contentedly to himself. Now, there was the Gumbie Cat that we all know and love.

*"*"*

A/N: Thanks for reading, again! I hope you liked the second chapter and please review (it's my motivation to put up with my very temperamental computer)!

Until next time (should be soon),

Moonlight Songs


	3. Chapter 3

Day Three

Discipline

A/N: Here's one more chapter all about the week of one lovely Jennyanydots! Enjoy and again, review please!

*"*"*

It didn't take long for Jennyanydots to find where the beetles, cockroaches and mice were hiding Etcetera. After all, she had been their general/music teacher/stern mother figure for long enough to know where to go when she had to convince one of the to go to work with a melodic "Up!"

This, however, was no such time. Jellylorum's youngest was in possible-yet-unlikely danger, and, moreover, the Gumbie Cat had to give those nasty insects (and small mammals) and good telling-off.

She entered the hollowed-out tree with a resounding stomp of her foot which sounded oddly like tap-dancing. "You naughty, naughty creatures..." she began, only to see that the beetles guarding the exit near the front were giving her a very odd look- not at all the one of frightened respect which she normally observed from them.

"Who are you?" one asked in confusion.

"Why- I'm Jennyanydots." replied said cat.

"No, you're not!" a cockroach cried. "Jennyanydots always wears a bright sunny coat- not like you!"

Jennyanydots looked down at herself. She hadn't noticed this before, but without the coat mention, she felt positively exposed. She needed her coat back!

But ignoring that, the nerve of these insects! How very rude of them to not even recognise their revered leaders without her flashy coat! Well, would she ever discipline them... As soon as she got her coat back.

"*"*"

Jennyanydots entered the tree with an even louder tap-dance-like-stomp than the previous time.

"SQUAD SALUTE!" she cried.

Upon this, she heard many object clatter to the floor, and looking down, she observed that they were all dropped to produce a room (well, segment of a tree) full of saluting small animals. Smiling to herself, Jennyanydots called out, "Where is the cat called Etcetera?"

An impressively high-pitched shriek from further up in the trunk answered her question, right on cue. "Aunt Jenny!" called a voice that was unmistakably the very kitten.

"You, take me to her." Jenny commanded the first mouse that she saw. The rodent nodded obediently and hastily scampered upstairs, Jenny in pursuit.

When she reached the top of the tiny mouse-sized stairs, she could clearly see Etcetera. The kitten appeared relatively unharmed, apart from the fact that her wrists and ankles were tightly bound, preventing her moving- not so good for the hyperactive queen-kit.

"Aunt Jenny! Oh, Aunt Jenny!" said queen-kit squealed. "Get them to untie me! They won't let me jump! I NEED TO JUMP!"

"It's okay, dearie." Jenny soothed. "You! Untie her, right now!"

The petrified mouse did as told, which probably wasn't the best idea. Etcetera leaped into the air and hopped down the stairs, only to fall on her head- landing on her feet, of course.

"Aunt Jenny?" she moaned.

"Cettie, go out and use up some of that energy. Please?" her aunt called down.

"Okay!" Etcetera giggled, dashing down past some bemused-looking cockroaches.

"Now." Jenny returned to her 'military voice'. "SQUAD ASSEMBLE!"

As soon as Jenny's voice carried through the various floors of the tree, mice, beetles and cockroaches filled the level in an instant.

"Now, I will say this now, and will hopefully not have to say this again: We do not kidnaps members of the Jellicle tribe!"

"Can we kidnap other cats?" a beetle piped up.

"No!"

"Can we kidnap anyone?" a mouse chimed in.

"NO!"

A rather collective groan emanated from the rank. Ignoring this, Jenny continued.

"But I know something that I'm sure will get the message accross to you much more than a lecture. Discipline exercises!"

There was a moment of silence. The , the Gumbie Cat realised that they had absolutely no idea what she meant.

"Give me ten laps of the clearing, no slacking!"

Another louder groan came after this command, as the rank began to creep downstairs.

"Wait!" Jenny suddenly called.

They turned to face her. She wasn't exactly sure how to say this.

"Try to stay away from Etcetera... it's not that I don't trust you all..." she said, looking at a few beetles who she didn't trust, "It's just that she's very energetic right now- well, most of the time- and... Oh, just listen to me, it may save you being flipped onto your shells and unable to move."

She nodded as they took this in.

"Now, who said you could stop moving? Discipline! Go, go, go!"

*"*"*

A/N: Ooo, Jenny was a bit harsh, right? Well, a Gumbie Cat's go to what a Gumbie Cat's got to do!

Until next time (aka tomorrow)

MoonlightSongs


	4. Chapter 4

Day Four

'I'd rather be eaten by a Pollicle!'

A/N: Here's chapter 4. Enjoy! (I would say more but I really want to get onto the plot...)

*"*"*

Jennyanydots smiled to herself in satisfaction. Today had been a very productive day. She had gotten back Etcetera, given the beetles, cockroaches and mice some good aerobic exercise, and even baked and eaten some Strasburg pie (she wasn't planning to tell Bomba this).

Now, with Cettie bounding playfully ahead, and the sky above turning a dusky pale crimson, she remembered there was one other special thing about today... Oh, what was it...

"SKIMBLE'S HOME!" yelped Etcetera, rushing forwards, so that Jenny had to sprint to keep up with her. As they came nearer to the big tire, Jenny saw that it was true- Mistofelees had put a spell on the strings of lights so that they flashed excitedly, and up ahead, she could see the metallic glint of what could only be the Railway Cat's pocket watch reflecting the early evening's sunlight. She bounded up to him, and engulfed him in a tight hug.

"Oh, Skimble, dear, it's so lovely to see you!"

"My sweet Jenny, it is always a pleasure to see you. Even though... You look quite different! Have you had a heard fur-cut?"

"SKIMBLE!" Jemima squealed, pouncing on her uncle until he had to gasp for breath.

"Yes... Hello, Jemima, dear lass..." he heaved, pushing the petite kitten off of him.

Jenny helped him up as he brushed the dust off of himself.

She began, "So, did you have a pleasant-"

"Was it cold in the northern part of the northern hemisphere?" Alonzo yelled.

"Aye, it was quite." Skimble said with a smile.

"Was there any snow?" sang Victoria gracefully. She had always been particularly interested in snow.

"Why, lass, 'twas a bit in Siberia..."

And so the questions ensued, and Jennyanydots was completely made invisible to Skimbleshanks.

She looked at him, as if expecting to suddenly turn around and take her into his arms, but he did no such thing. He simply got sucked into the limelight, and stayed there.

Jenny could then felt eyes on her back. She turned around, and saw Bombalurina sitting on the top if a tipped-over dust bin, her legs crossed, one over the other. She looked at Jenny with a look in her eyes that seemed almost like- sadness?- then nodded towards Jenny's midsection. Jenny silently cursed herself. She had forgotten to take off her sunny coat! What an idiot she was. Then she realised- she had done exactly what she was meant not to. She had gotten all excited and hugged Skimble- hugged him- and had not even taken her coat off! She might have gotten a makeover on the outside, but she was still the same cat on the inside. What was she going to do?

As if reading her thoughts, Bomba nodded towards her den and mouthed 'Tomorrow.' Jenny took the hint, and nodded sadly. Bombalurina then took the oppurtunity to leap off the dust bin and leave the sickenly-sweet scene of greeting for her den. Tomorrow was certainly going to be a long day.

"*"*"

A tired Jennyanydots was reluctantly trudging towards Bombalurina's den. She had stayed up quite late last night, just in case Skimble came to talk to her- but as she had expected, he never did. So, now she had to go and seek Bomba's help. Great.

It's not that she especially disliked the scarlet queen. There was just... this look in her eyes, like she knew something that Jenny didn't. It put Jenny on edge for some reason. She had no idea why.

Her train of thought was stopped when she reached her destination, which, to her surprise, had a wide-awake Bombalurina standing at the entrance. She led Jenny inside, showed her a seat, then got straight to work.

"Do you want me to make this flowery or be blunt?"

"Blunt." Jenny replied, a bit shocked at her forwardness.

"Alright." said Bomba as she clears her throat. "You completely screwed up last night. We have to go into emergency operations."

The first part Jenny had been expecting after she saw the look in Bomba's eyes last night. The second part, she wasn't quite sure what it meant.

"What does 'emergency operations' mean?"

Bomba sighed. "You want Skimbleshanks, don't you?"

Jenny was a bit confuses by her terminology. "I like him a lot, if that's what you mean."

"Close enough." Bomba decided. "But, you see, the thing is, yesterday, you played such an easy queen that he brushed you right off."

"Well, I don't think-"

"He brushed you off." Bomba repeated. "So, to make him want you, you have to play hard-to-get."

"What?"

"Make him jealous." Bomba concluded. "And that is where my masterplan comes in." She waited a moment before stating, not asking, "You're going to kiss Bustopher Jones."

Jenny sat there open-mouthed for a moment, before once again mentally rebuking herself and thinking properly. She had always thought of BJ as a friend, but not in that way. Sometimes they would casually flirt, but that was mostly for humour's sake. The idea of kissing him...

"I'd rather be eaten by a Pollicle." Jenny spat.

Bomba merely shrugged at this. "That's unfortunate, then, because you're going to spend your life alone."

Jenny gaped at Bomba again. That didn't seem like the way to make Skimble like her! It would probably just make him sad!But she knew that Bomba knew much more about this than her, and she had best do what she said. She looked up at the unsympathetic scarlet queen in front of gwr, before looking down, closing her eyes, and clenching her teeth. "When do I have to do it?"

*"*"*

A/N: Wow, we're more than halfway through with this story! It feels like I just started writing! (Well, it was only four days ago, but still! To console me in my grief, review please! (Eh, review anyways. I'm done crying now!)

Until tomorrow, (I'll just say that for this story from now on)

MoonlightSongs


	5. Chapter 5

Day Five

An Accident

A/N: part 1- Hey! I just realised that I might have to update again today, because I may not have time on one of the last days. So, yeah!

A/N: part 2- Yay! Skimble's in the plot now! It took me a while, but he's there now.

Enjoy and PRETTY PLEASE review!

*"*"*

Jennyanydots was in a battle. Not that the Gumbie Cat had any intention whatsoever to go into physical combat. No, no, she was in a much more perilous venture than that. She was in a mental war- with herself.

She really liked Skimble. This she knew, if only from how much she missed him in his prolonged absences to the northern part of the northern hemisphere. But she was fairly certain that he did not like her- he had seemed so eager to get away when he only just seen her for the first time in a month. Bombalurina said it was because she was too annoying. And Jenny did want Skimble to like her. But what Bomba was suggesting- no, insisting- seemed ludicrous. And cruel. What if Skimble did actually like her? It would break his heart! And never mind using poor old Bustopher Jones in such a manner... But they had been known to flirt every now and again, and that wasn't serious... And she was pretty sure that Skimble did not like her... And what's a kiss, anyways? Not much, Bomba had assured her. It was merely the rumour (which would be much more effective if true) that would be useful. All a kiss was, was... Then Jenny remembered. She had no idea what a kiss was like. That's right, our dear Jennyanydots had never been kissed before. She didn't want her first kiss to be like that, but she didn't want to die alone either. What on earth was she meant to do? Her guts told her: run! But that thought was eliminated by Jenny telling herself not to be an idiot, and also by one tall red queen slinking up to the entrance of her den. Bomba gave in impatient knock on the doorframe.

"You ready yet, Gumbie Cat?"

Said cat quickly re-arranged her head fur and nodded. The two queen strode out the den into the bright morning sunlight. Bomba quickly led Jenny to the garden of Dew-covered Sunflowers and Withering Roses. In the clearing, Jenny could see Bustopher Jones perching on a small tin, looking rather bored.

"Okay, Jenny, this is it. Just do it." Bomba whispered in her ear as she shoved Jenny into the clearing.

"BJ!" Jenny called out, trying to sound upbeat.

The remarkably fat cat turned his glance in her direction. "Ah, Jenny, love! How delightful to see you!"

"And the same to you." Jenny replied, getting more nervous by the minute.

"Oh, thank you very much. Now, do you have any idea why that young scarlet thing demanded a presence here?" Jenny could hear a scoff from Bomba at being referred to as such, but Bustopher Jones didn't seem to notice.

"Um, no, I'm afraid..."

"For there is curry at the Siamese, so I am in a bit of a hurry, as you might guess."

"Yes, Bustopher..." Jenny mumbled, then decided to get on with it. "BJ, do you like me?"

"Why, yes, you are a lovely companion."

"No- I mean, like me in another way."

"What do you mean, my dear?"

Jenny took this as her cue. She crawled up to him and put her lips on his.

She has thought that it would feel amazing. Honestly, it just felt akward. What was she doing?

The kiss (or what wasn't really much of one) broke apart when a cry of outrage was heard from behind them. Jenny swivelled on hear hind-paw to see a flash of glass-green eyes, and then they were gone.

"*"*"

"Jenny! Jenny, listen to me! It wasn't meant to happen like that! It was an accident!" Bomba called to the queen she was chasing.

"Save it!" Jenny spat back at her. "You planned this whole ridiculous thing! Obviously you knew he was going to be there!"

"That's not true!" Bomba retorted.

"Why did I ever listen to you? What have I done to Skimble? I've broken his heart!" Jenny sobbed, slamming the door to her den.

"I'm sorry..." Bomba started, but it was too late; she was left alone in the hot, swirling dust, and had to return to the broken fragments that were her life.

*"*"*

A/N: So there! Sorry if that was a terrible as I thought it was. Only two chapters left! (Giggles stupidly) I'm quite looking forward to writing the next one.

Until sometime in the future (yeah, I know, just go with it),

MoonlightSongs


	6. Chapter 6

Day Six

Jealousy

A/N: Okay, so I just have to say, there isn't going to be a whole lot of stuff plot-wise in this one. That will (hopefully) come in the next (and last) (gasp) chapter. Anyways, still enjoy, and if I promise that this will maybe be better than the last chapter... Will you review? Everlasting Cat, I hope so!

*"*"*

Bombalurina was alone, once again, and certainly not for the last time. Her stomach lurched as she entered the shabby, overdone surroundings which she called her den. The Rum Tum Tugger had been staying over last night, and had left the place an absolute tip. One of the pillows had exploded, leaving feathers lazily sprawled all over the floor, one of her mirroring panes had fallen over and shattered, and there were dirty paw-prints everywhere. Groaning and stepping carefully to avoid cutting her paws on the glass, she got to work attempting to make her life at least appear happy and glamorous.

She hadn't meant for it to go this far. Yes, Skimbleshanks seeing Jennyanydots kiss Bustopher Jones was bad and it shouldn't have happened, but Bomba had honestly never meant for it to go that way. It had been wrong to do what she had done, and she should have stopped, but she didn't. She couldn't.

It had all started out actually very innocent. Jenny had caught Bomba at a bad moment, she had snapped (that wasn't any behaviour exclusively for Jennyanydots), and Bomba had felt bad. So, she gave her a makeover and a few tips. Nothing wrong there, right?

It had really begun when Skimble came back. Jenny may be have been too excited or anxious to notice, but by simple looking at him when he said his first sentence to her, Bomba could tell if only by his glass-green eyes alone. Skimbleshanks was very much in love with Jennyanydots. She knew that much for certain. And what she had felt... she wasn't quite sure of what it was then, but she knew now.

It was jealousy. Pure, unadulterated yearning for what Jennyanydots had and she didn't.

Not that Bombalurina had any particular fancy for the Railway Cat. As a matter of fact, she found his accent pretty irritating. It was what was the two of them had- together- than made Bomba absolutely seethe.

They had love. Or they would, if Bombalurina had not meddled so. They still could, Bomba hoped. She didn't see how, but then again, Bomba didn't know much about love; only seduction. And that was what felt like a knife to the chest upon realisation.

Jenny and Skimble loved each other. Despite Jenny's betrayal and Skimble's fury, Bomba knew that both events only took place because they did love each other, and wanted to win each other's hearts. Bomba loved no one, and had no one to love her. Sure, she had had multiple flings at multiple times with multiple toms, and what Tugger and she had could potentially be called a relationship. But it wasn't. Not quite. She did not love him, and she was certain that if he did love her in the slightest, it was completely blotted out once his enormous ego came into play.

It wasn't that she wasn't attracted to cats. She most definitely was. It was just that she had to no one in the world that she absolutely, completely, and beyond everything adored, would do so forever, and would give up everything for- and no one who felt the same way about her. Toms drooled over her, queens resented her. Neither of them loved her.

Even Demeter, her best friend, mostly just hung around her because Bomba was the only one who would listen to her never-ending screams of 'Macavity!' and assume a protective stance every time she did so, which Bomba did quite a lot out of pure boredom. They liked each other enough, but they were never going to be the inseparable sisters that Electra and Etcetera were.

Bombalurina cried out in aggravation. Why couldn't she have what everyone else had, which she wanted to so badly? Why couldn't she be Jennyanydots?

Jealously melting away after her sudden outburst, Bomba sighed. She knew that what she had set up was terrible. Her head had told her that it was the right thing to do, but now, she realised the truth- any action done out of all the spite and envy that Bomba had just let out could only end up in misery.

She knew that she couldn't meddle anymore. It would probably only make things worse. Besides, Jenny was furious at her and heartbroken. All Bomba could do was pray to the Everalasting Cat that Jenny found the strength to face Skimble, and that he found the strength to believe and forgive her.

And as Bomba collected the pale, delicate feathers that were slowly becoming less and less of a mess on her floor, she noted how soft they felt as she picked then up, and how beautifully they glided through the air as she dropped them back down. She wondered if someday someone would someone would someday hold her just as softly, and think her just as beautiful- for who she was.

But she didn't know. She just didn't know.

"*"*"

Skimble was also alone in his den. He was tired, he wanted to go out into the sun (why was it so cloudy today?), but above all, he was simply miserable. He now realised (or he thought he did) that Jenny had been lying to him the whole time. Not seeing anybody? Ha! So that's what had been going on whilst he was away! How dare they? How dare she...

Skimble then had to remind himself of something. She wasn't his to lose. She never had been and she probably never would be. He had absolutely no right to prevent from seeing any tom that she wanted to. He didn't have the official right, anyways. And that came with three words that had not been said yet.

That's what puzzled him. Although he had never quite been brave enough to admit it flat out, he had always felt, that when it was just the two of them, the Gumbie Cat had somehow known that Skimble felt something towards her. Whether it be by some silly thing that he had said, the way he always put his arm around her when she felt threatened when Demeter yelled 'Macavity!', or just by the look in his eyes, he had felt certain before he left that the Gumbie Cat had some inclinations about his affections. But now, he saw that the reason that she had no tom-friend until then was not that she knew of his love for her, but that she was in a secret relationship with Bustopher Jones!

This also was quite confusing to him. He had always seen the two of them of more sort of 'annoying sibling' types (even though they weren't at all related) than as lovers. So when he had heard their two voices together on his search for the queen so that he could give her a proper greeting, he could not have been more shocked when he saw what they were really up to. He shouldn't have been surprised though. His jealousy hurt him more than getting bit by a Pollicle ever could, and he knew that there were cats in this would who could easily inflict such pain.

He had just never thought that Jennyanydots was one of those cats.

*"*"*

A/N: SKIMBLE! Why did I do this to you? WHY?

Eh, he'll survive. With maybe just a bit of help from one hyperactive queen-kit... Darn it, spoiler! Gah, it's not that bad...right? (Sobs quietly) Anyways, I thought that this was good in the way that it explained a bit about why Bomba was so bad and her feelings and stuff, and about Skimble's reaction to it all, but bad because I am pretty sure that it was horrifically cheesy (again)... Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't you tell me what YOU think? It's called a review! Please... (Makes kitten eyes again)

See you later, (Ooo! I changed it up!)

MoonlightSongs


	7. Chapter 7

Day Seven

The TSE1

A/N: Hello, my dear wonderful readers/reviewers. Much to my heart-breaking regret, the story has, and must, come to an end, as all good things do.

Aside from the philosophical part, I hoped you guys all liked my story, and I hope that it did justice to the awesomeness that is Jennyanydots and Skimbleshanks! I hope you like this chapter too, and don't find it too silly and fluffy (It's Romance fic, so a bit of fluff is inevitable, but still) and please review it to tell me!

I had to post this one day early because as of tomorrow I won't have access to a computer to post it (I will, however, have access to a phone so that I can see all of your lovely reviews!)

And…(drumroll) I am contemplating doing a sequel (not for the competition, just independently), although I can't make any promises yet! (grins annoyingly)

Anyways, enjoy, as I hope you always do!

*"*"*

Skimbleshanks was now officially bored of being alone. He had spent the whole day alone- Everlasting Cat, he had spent his whole life alone- and if he was to be alone, at least he wanted to be so somewhere worth being at.

So, keeping his glass-green eyes down to hopefully avoid being noticed, he stalked silently out of his den and climbed up the seemingly never-ending piles of junk to the one place in the Junkyard that could simply make him feel happy just by being there.

As he clambered up to the TSE1 train car, he noticed something rather unusual- he was not the only one who had that destination in mind. For up atop the car was none other than one fluffy white and gold kitten, and even more unusual than that: she seemed to be sitting absolutely still.

Indeed, Etcetera seemed to be in some sort of incredibly deep thought as she gazed up at a sky in dusky transition from afternoon to evening. As Skimble paced towards her, he was incredibly wary to stay slow and not accidently startle her- Jellylorum's youngest, in this case, seemed a little bit like a firecracker- one small shock and she would leap fifty feet into the air, land carefully on her feet, then start squealing as usual.

But much to his surprise, as she heard him step up onto the top of the car, she simply turned her head to him and smiled a small smile with a quiet "Hello, Skimble." Then, she turned back to her thoughts.

Skimble was so bewildered by Etcetera acting like this, that he simply stared a moment, sighed, and perched next to her on the metal roofing of the car.

They sat like this for a moment, until Skimble saw Etectera frown out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look at her.

"What's troubling ya, kitten?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing…" she murmered, still frowning and not looking at him.

"I honestly doubt that, lass. Now, you'll feel much better if you tell me."

"It's just something I thought…" she began. Then she turned to look at him, eyes wide with a mischievous glint. "If I tell you, will you tell me what you're thinking?"

"But Cettie," Skimble asked innocently, "What's to stop me from lying?"

"Well, Skimble," Etectera whispered, "I'm not sure if I'm meant to tell you this, but I just found out that I'm a little bit pshycic. So I would know if you were lying."

"Really?" asked Skimble, supressing the urge to chuckle heartily. "And who told you this, may I ask?"

"Cori and Tanto." Etectera stated persistently. "Well, at least I think they did…" She noticed Skimble's raised eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure they did! It's hard to hear what someone says when you pounce on them."

"Alright then." Skimble conceded. "But you have to tell me first, then."

"Must I?" Etcetera whined.

"Yes- if you're talking when you are supposed to be judging whether I was false or not, it will mess up the whole matter."

Etcetera shrugged and reluctantly accepted this answer. "Oh alright. It wasn't really anything too interesting. I was just… looking up at the sky, and it looked so peaceful. It made me happy to see it… and then… I just thought, how could anybody ever be sad when things were so beautiful in the world? Why can't we just enjoy them and share them with the people we love?" she sighed and giggled. "Okay, Skimble, your turn!"

Skimble had not expected that answer. To be perfectly honest, it had left him just a little bit dazed. "Oh, what- Yes, I mean…"

"Are you okay?"

"Yes- er, what we talking about again?"

"I was wondering what you were thinking about." Etcetera said. "And you have to tell me, or else it's not fair." she pouted.

Life's not fair, Skimble was tempted to grumble, but he held the incredibly cliché term back. "Just now, I wasn't thinking of anything much."

"Then before?"

"Before… Oh, I was just thinking of someone… someone I used to love very much."

"What happened?" questioned the wide-eyed kitten.

"They betrayed me." Skimble huffed. "And it's all over, now."

Etcetera stared at Skimble for a second, then turned her face back to the sky, which was growing a liquid-like sepia colour. "You see, that's what I was thinking of just then, really, too. If you love someone, and they do something to you, then you're hurt, obviously, and they're probably hurt too. So why dwell on those feelings? What in the world is stopping you? Why should you not simply forgive them and stop two people's miseries in one go? It seems so silly that we give some of our food to stray cats' charities to 'do good', when so often, we could do good so easily but we don't. It seems like a waste of both misery and happiness. Love is so easy. Why can't we just embrace it? Enjoy it? Share it? Spread it? Because of all the lessons that Jellylorum has taught me- whilst, of course, table manners are terribly boring and useful- she seems to have missed out one very important one - forgiveness."

Skimble was in shock. He couldn't move his mouth. Who was this kit and what had she done with Etcetera? Apart from the fact that she was speaking slowly enough for him to actually understand her, what she had just said was so… insightful wasn't what he meant. It was like… she had been speaking from another world. Like she understood something that the rest of them could never have a hope of deciphering. But what she was saying was so true! It was just… right. And then he realised. He finally understood what he had to do.

"Skimble?" Etcetera asked, looking at him curiously.

"Etcetera," he began, "when did you learn to speak like that?"

Turning her eyes back to the pink horizon for a moment, she mumbled gingerly "I dunno- it just seems like this time of the day has a certain meaning for me. Like how Jemima feels about the moonlight. That's sorta how I feel about the sunset."

Skimble took a moment to take this in. Then, he kissed the small kitten on the forehead. "You, Cettie, are a dear one."

Clearly, Etcetera took this the wrong way. "Eww, Skimble, you're way too old for me! Besides, I'm saving myself for Tugger." She paused a second. "Aren't you seeing Jenny, anyways?"

This once again reminded Skimble of what he needed to do. He gave Etcetera a grateful smile and hopped of car. Except he took one moment to call up: "Oh, and Cettie?"

"Yeah?"

"Forget about Tugger, will ya, lass? He's no good for you, ya know."

Etcetera just giggled slightly and looked back up thoughtfully to the horizon, as if contemplating the idea of actually erasing the Rum Tum Tugger from her memory, which is more than Skimble had been hoping for. Contented with this, he scrambled down the piles of rubbish, eagerly searching for one tabby-kind queen with tiger stripes and leopard spots.

"*"*"

"JENNY!"

Jennyanydots perked up her ears at the sound of her name, and them flattened them back down when she realised who it was. She did not want to have to deal with this now.

She heard a grunt from Skimble, who had presumably figured out that she had set a rock in front of her den opening from the inside to prevent his entrance.

"Jennyanydots, I need to talk to you!" he yelled.

"No, Skimble. I cannot bear to face you after what I have done. Please, leave me alone."

"But I've done something terrible!"

Jenny was a bit puzzled by this. "No, you haven't, dear. I have. I am the terrible one here." Having to fend him off like this was just doing miracles for her self-image.

"I never even gave you a chance to explain anything! I need to hear you! Please, open up the door."

"Skimble, you are not making this easy for me. Please, just go!"

There was moment of silence. Jenny hoped that perhaps he had gotten the message and left. This was before she heard him give a mighty grunt and ram into the wooden planks separating them with all his might, sending the rock skidding far enough across the floor for him to open the door, slide in and press himself up against the wood so that she could not exit either.

"Jenny, I must explain something to you myself. I have absolutely no right whatsoever to stop you from seeing any tom that you want. I want you to have love in your life, and I want not to stop that. If the answer, as I feel it may be, for today's incident is that you indeed do love Bustopher Jones, then-"

"WHAT?" cried Jenny.

"-I want you to be happy…" finished Skimble. "What does 'WHAT?' mean?"

"How could you possible think that I loved BJ?"

"Well, for a start, you call him 'BJ'…"

"Bustopher Jones, then." Jenny said.

"Well, you were kissing him." Skimble explained.

"Oh my Everlasting Cat, Skimbleshanks, I was only kissing him to make you jealous!"

This stopped Skimble right in his tracks. She didn't love Bustopher Jones! That was amazing news. But… why would she want to make him jealous? It had made him absolutely miserable. Why she want to do that?

"But… why would you do such a thing, Jenny?"

Jenny looked down at her paws, obviously extremely embarrassed. "When you came back, you hardly seemed to notice me. I thought you didn't like me anymore. I wanted you to like me."

Skimble looked at her closely. She had obviously been crying. Her eyes were red and puffy, and a bit of that gunk she had had on her face had washed off. Her head fur was also starting to grow out again. She was starting to look like the old Gumbie Cat once more.

"That's not the way, lass. You should have tried to talk to me."

"I did!" Jenny cried. "And you ignored me!"

Skimble had always been known to get a bit swept up on his first night back to the Junkyard after a while. He hadn't realised that he had hurt Jenny so. And that was the problem!

"Jenny, dear… I'm so sorry."

As he gently leaned forward to put an arm around her, she quickly swatted it away.

"I'm sorry too." She spluttered, wiping a tear or two from her eyes. "I never realised what a burden I must have been on you. It wasn't until Bomba told me that I even had a clue."

"Wait, what?"

"Bomba told me." she reapeated. "She told me how queens like me can be so annoying to you toms, and I didn't want to do that to you… so I let her change me."

Skimble thought that he was beginning to understand. "So, that's why…" he gestured to her new head fur and make-up.

"Yes that's why I looked different." she looked up at him nervously, as if she was afraid that he may just evaporate at any moment if she wasn't careful. "I didn't want to kiss him, Skimble. I really didn't. But after you came back, and I found out that it hadn't made a difference at all, and Bomba told me I had to, I just felt like I needed to just to get your attention."

Skimble raised his eyebrows. It sounded like Bombalurina had been up to a little bit more than he had thought whilst he was away. But he wasn't too mad. He had seen her crying through a window in her den earlier. Poor dear. The way Tugger treated her was just atrocious. He then made a silent pact with himself that he would never treat Jennyanydots like that for as long as he lived.

"Jenny, I just want you to know that I never want you to change a thing about yourself for me. Ever. I love you just that way you are."

Skimble was about to continue when he saw Jenny staring at him in amazement.

"You… love me?" she said quietly.

Skimble smiled at her with all the love that he had been holding up in his heart for so long.

"Yes, dear, and I forgive you."

In response, Jenny simply squealed with joy and hugged him so tightly that the air was completely knocked out of him. Partly to save himself and partly because he wanted to know, he then asked her: "And do you forgive me?"

Much to his relief, the queen did let go of him, looking at him in disbelief. "What on earth for?"

"Oh, I dunno, perhaps for ignoring you to the point that you felt to need to wear make-up and kiss another tom just to get me to notice you?"

Jenny laughed uncomfortably, but then smiled sincerely. "Yes, I forgive you."

They hugged again. Then, Skimble got an idea.

"Have you got anything important planned for the next few days?"

"Well, I'm on kitten-sitting duty tomorrow…"

Apparently, Skimble did not deem this enough of a reason to not grab Jenny's paw and pull her out into the dusky evening light.

"Where on earth are you taking me?" Jenny giggled girlishly.

"You'll see." Skimble said with a wink.

"*"*"

The round-trip to Glasgow and back was a pleasant trip.

Or Skimble had assured her so when they reached the platform. Although the weather in Glasgow was certainly questionable this time of year, as Skimble grabbed her paw and pulled her up the stairs to the hallway of the train, she could not have possibly been more optimistic about her upcoming trip.

Back at the Junkyard, apart from Skimble quickly whispering to Munkustrap where they were going so that nobody worried about them, they had left pretty quickly. Jenny had also dropped by to tell Electra (her official Gumbie Cat-in-training) that if she just put on Jenny's orange and yellow coat and went up near to the insects' and rodents' tree-trunk, they should stay in order at least until they got back.

Skimble led her through the hallways, until they got to what appeared to be the back of the train. Jennyanydots had never been on a train before, and although she must admit that whilst it was moving it was a bit dizzying to walk around, it was exciting nonetheless.

"Follow me." Skimble whispered. She did so, following him through what appeared to be some sort of grate. She jumped out of it, nimbly landed on her paws behind Skimble. She swivelled around to see where she was, and then she realised why Skimble had taken her here. They were standing on a small ledge on the end of the train (which thankfully had bars in front of to keep them from toppling onto the track), but that wasn't the special thing. Because from there, the cats could get a perfect view of the Jellicle moon.

"Oh, Skimble!" she exclaimed. "It's so lovely!"

Skimble, in response, took her up into his arms, and gently kissed her.

Now Jenny knew what a kiss was meant to feel like. And frankly, nothing could be more perfect.

*"*"*

A/N: And… it's over. I hope you liked it. Please review, and I'll hopefully be posting some new Cats fanfics soon.

Hugs to all you readers, reviewers and generally amazing Cats fans,

MoonlightSongs


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